Letter To The Editor-Dr. Michelle Johnstone

Posted:
03/26/2013 09:34:22 AM MDT

Updated:
03/26/2013 09:34:58 AM MDT

Dear Brush School District Community, Thank you for taking time to provide us with feedback on what you see as needs for our school district. The information we have received can be categorized at this point into three areas; school safety, increase student achievement, and technology. School safety is always first and foremost on all of our minds. We have started the process of gathering bids for cameras (inside and out), modifying the airlocks on the front of our schools, and keyless entry systems. We have some funds available to get us started, however we will need community support for a complete build out. We have also gathered feedback on School Resource Officers (SRO) that includes hiring one SRO for each building. The SRO would be responsible for ensuring safety in each building and safety education for students, staff, parents, and community. We are very appreciative that the City of Brush has stepped forward to help us get started by splitting the cost of one SRO for the current school year and for the 2013-2014 school year. Again, this gets us started however, we will need to gain community support to continue.Our district goal is to move into the top 10 percent of schools based on the academic growth of our students. This is growth for all of our students. In my previous letter I was excited to share the success of initiatives we started such as strengthening programming for our struggling students in reading and math that includes progress monitoring not only academics but also attendance.

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Additionally, we need to look at the possibility of increasing funding for concurrent enrollment (high school students who take classes at Morgan Community College) and programming for our high achieving students. This past week I was part of Northern Superintendents who heard a presentation from the Colorado Department of Education about the upcoming revised graduation requirements. Across the state students who take concurrent enrollment classes while in high school have demonstrated higher scores on the ACT. We want to continue with intervention during the school year and over the course of the summer. I-Connect Alternative High School according to students and staff is working and we want to ensure that the school is able to continue when the grant concludes in three years. Lastly, we would like to strengthen the counseling services available for our students and families based on our current successful partnerships.Our district has made great strides in technology. We also have a new distance learning lab because of a USDA grant. This lab will allow our students take classes from distance locations. We are partnering with Wiggins, Prairie, and Pawnee to support their students by offering access to our BHS schedule. Other districts have contacted us to see if students can take the classes we are offering. This will be a wonderful opportunity to help students across the state. We are working on a payment proposal for our partner districts and students outside of the partnership. We will eventually have the need for a coordinator. We also know that the new version of Transitional Colorado Assessment Program (TCAP) will be on line in 2014. The new assessment is Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers (PARCC). We will need to continue to increase our technological capabilities. Our School Business Officer and I will be scheduling time in the coming month to attend community meetings and begin discussing the possibility of a Mill Levy Override. As of this year, our district has lost 6.2 million dollars because of the budget cuts in School Funding which represents about half of the budget needed per year. We cannot regain those dollars nor can we sustain the educational opportunities that have demonstrated student achievement success.We look forward to continuing this discussion and seeking your input. Please call the district office for a schedule of where we will hold these discussions.